Chapter 27: Buy Weapons and Armor

Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang finalized their business deal and prepared to go to Ku Wu Mountain to collect snake-spotted chrysanthemums.

That evening, Qin Xiaopang went home to pack his bags and invited Li Banfeng to stay at his place for the night, but Li Banfeng politely declined. As a home-based cultivator, one must spend at least two hours in their residence every day. This is the most fundamental cultivation rule. Qiao Yuesheng's example served as a clear warning, and Li Banfeng dared not break the rules.

The two agreed to meet at the noodle shop at eight the next morning, but Li Banfeng had no watch or any other timekeeping device. By the time he arrived at the noodle shop, it was almost noon. Li Banfeng couldn't be blamed for oversleeping; inside his portable residence, day and night were indistinguishable, and his sleep quality was simply too good.

Qin Xiaopang was anxious: "Brother Li, what took you so long? We need to hurry. First, let's go to Ligou."

"What for?"

"To buy some useful tools."

Li Banfeng was puzzled: "Aren't we going up the mountain to collect herbs? Aren't a shovel and sacks enough? Do we really need to go to Ligou to buy these things?"

Qin Xiaopang shook his head and said, "There's no time. I'll explain when we get there."

After treating Li Banfeng to two bowls of plain noodles, Qin Xiaopang ate eight himself. Fully energized, they both ran to Ligou. Li Banfeng used only about a third of his strength, while Qin Xiaopang struggled to keep up behind him. Once a food cultivator was full, their speed and endurance far surpassed those of ordinary people, barely allowing them to keep pace with a travel cultivator. Previously, Li Banfeng had walked slowly from Ligou, taking most of the day. Now, running back, they reached Ligou in less than two hours.

Qin Xiaopang was breathless from running and led Li Banfeng directly to Paifang Street. As soon as they entered the street, Li Banfeng felt a little nervous, because the He Family Old Residence was nearby, and Lu Xiaolan was still inside. Qin Xiaopang knew nothing about the He Family Old Residence; he was headed for Feng's General Store.

The general store owner was dusting the shelves with a feather duster. Seeing them enter, he quickly greeted them with a smile: "Boss Qin, I haven't seen you around much lately. And this guest, it's good to see you again." He recognized Qin Xiaopang and also Li Banfeng, who was still wearing the fedora he had bought from him.

Qin Xiaopang wasn't in the mood for pleasantries and directly asked, "Shopkeeper Feng, do you have any good stuff? I'm off to do some business." Qin Xiaopang's business didn't seem suitable for discussing at the counter. Shopkeeper Feng called a clerk to mind the door and said to Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang, "Gentlemen, please come to the inner room for some tea."

Li Banfeng and Qin Xiaopang followed Shopkeeper Feng to the inner room. This "inner room" had even more shelves than the outer one, with goods stacked high and very crowded. If not for a coffee table in the center, it would have been purely a warehouse. The three sat by the coffee table. Shopkeeper Feng poured tea and, lowering his voice, asked, "Don't mind me for being nosy, but may I ask what kind of business you two are undertaking?"

"Ku Wu Mountain, picking flowers," Qin Xiaopang replied directly.

Shopkeeper Feng pondered for a moment, then took a small scythe from a shelf. The scythe's blade was less than ten centimeters long, and its handle was even shorter, just enough for one hand to grasp. Qin Xiaopang stared at the miniature scythe and, after a moment of stunned silence, said, "Shopkeeper Feng, why are you giving me this scythe? It's not even good for harvesting wheat."

Shopkeeper Feng was also surprised: "Boss Qin, aren't you going to Ku Wu Mountain to pick flowers? This scythe is perfect for picking flowers."

Qin Xiaopang frowned: "I don't treat you as an outsider, so why are you treating me like an idiot? If I just needed a scythe, why would I come to your shop?"

Shopkeeper Feng said with a helpless expression, "Boss Qin, you said you wanted to pick flowers, and I gave you a tool for picking flowers. What did I do wrong?"

Qin Xiaopang grew agitated: "Are you genuinely clueless, or are you pretending to be? Are the flowers on Ku Wu Mountain something you can just pick casually?"

Shopkeeper Feng shook his head repeatedly: "This time, I genuinely don't understand. This scythe, take it if you want it, otherwise forget it."

As the two argued, Li Banfeng began to understand. Qin Xiaopang knew some inside information about Ku Wu Mountain, but not much. He also understood a little about the rules of the underworld, but his understanding was limited. Li Banfeng grew up in an orphanage and paid for college by working odd jobs. He had met many people and experienced many things. He could tell at a glance that the true veteran was Shopkeeper Feng.

Li Banfeng quickly intervened to smooth things over, saying to Qin Xiaopang, "Brother, I don't understand either. What exactly do you want to buy?"

Qin Xiaopang frowned: "We need to buy a weapon!"

"What for?"

Qin Xiaopang only explained one sentence: "The flowers are easy to pick, but the mountain is hard to descend." That single sentence made the hidden meaning clear. Snake-spotted chrysanthemums were precious. Many people wanted to pick them from the mountain, and presumably many also wanted to steal them. Qin Xiaopang wanted to buy a weapon for self-defense.

Shopkeeper Feng naturally understood Qin Xiaopang's intention. He replied with a sentence: "It's easier to descend the mountain with a scythe. If you carry a Green Dragon Blade, the path will be difficult."

Li Banfeng asked, "What do you mean by that?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Someone carrying a scythe is a farmer. Someone carrying a Green Dragon Blade is General Guan Yu. A farmer walks quietly; at most, they might encounter a petty thief, and with one swing, the matter is resolved. If General Guan Yu walks with his Green Dragon Blade, he has to pass five gates and slay six generals. Without General Guan Yu's abilities, can you really descend this mountain?"

As he spoke, the shopkeeper ran his hand over the scythe's edge. Li Banfeng, indeed, knew his stuff and could tell it was a good blade. Li Banfeng said, "How much is this blade? I'll buy it."

Qin Xiaopang, standing by, widened his eyes and said, "What's the use of buying this? Let's go check other places. I know plenty of sources."

Shopkeeper Feng did not try to dissuade him: "Boss Qin, then you should go check other shops. I don't have the kind of weapon you're looking for here." Shopkeeper Feng was a good man; he didn't want to harm Qin Xiaopang.

Li Banfeng insisted on buying the scythe. The shopkeeper quoted five hundred coins, and Li Banfeng didn't haggle, preparing to borrow five hundred coins from Qin Xiaopang. Qin Xiaopang was heartbroken: "Just for this thing, five hundred coins?"

Li Banfeng's purse was tight, and Shopkeeper Feng noticed. The day before, he had helped him with directions, and the young man had bought a fedora and a feather duster. Shopkeeper Feng remembered clearly that this was a reasonable person.

"This guest, what is your name?"

Li Banfeng replied, "My surname is Li, and my name is Li Qi."

"Boss Li, I'll let you have this blade on credit. You can settle the payment after you return from picking the flowers."

"On credit?" Li Banfeng was stunned.

Shopkeeper Feng's smile remained unchanged: "You are someone who can get things done. I trust you." Li Banfeng thanked him and accepted the scythe.

Shopkeeper Feng took out a small shovel from under the counter, about a dozen centimeters long, and handed it to Li Banfeng: "Some flowers are deeply rooted and hard to pick. Do you think this shovel is suitable?" Li Banfeng took the shovel, examined its shape, felt its edge, and then asked, "How much is this shovel?"

Shopkeeper Feng smiled: "In terms of material and craftsmanship, this shovel is better than that scythe. Logically, eight hundred wouldn't be expensive, but you're a discerning customer. If you find it suitable, you can have it for seven hundred coins."

"Seven hundred..." Li Banfeng hesitated. It was a good item, but getting another item on credit felt a bit inappropriate.

Shopkeeper Feng understood Li Banfeng's dilemma: "Take it and use it first. If it suits you well, you can bring the money. If not, you can return it." Li Banfeng accepted the shovel and then thought of buying some cloth bags from the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper Feng gave him two: "Two cloth bags should be enough. The flowers are easy to pick, but hard to carry down the mountain."

Li Banfeng listened to his advice. Shopkeeper Feng smiled and said, "Is there anything else you wish to buy?"

There were no windows in his portable residence, so he couldn't see the sun or moon, making it impossible to tell day from night. Li Banfeng wanted to buy a watch. Shopkeeper Feng took out a pocket watch. Its body was about twice the size of a one-yuan coin, with a gleaming silver case that reflected a person's image.

Snap! He pressed the case open, revealing a white dial embossed with twelve exquisite markers. The crown, which was the winding stem for the pocket watch, was located at the twelve o'clock position. Shopkeeper Feng held the stem, twisted it a few times, and then pulled it out two clicks.

Li Banfeng had seen such mechanical watches before. If the crown wasn't pulled out, it was for winding. Pulled out one click, it was for setting the time. Pulled out two clicks, it was for setting the date. This watch dial had no date, so why did he pull it out two clicks?

A soft melody began to play from the pocket watch, reminiscent of a music box. It was a very familiar tune, one he seemed to have heard somewhere before. A shopping mall? A restaurant? Like the chime announcing a VIP upstairs? Li Banfeng had worked odd jobs in all these places, and he remembered the tune vividly, but he could never recall its name. He hadn't heard music in a long time. The sound made Li Banfeng feel a sense of warmth and familiarity.

"What's the price of this watch?"

Shopkeeper Feng held up the watch chain: "This is a pocket watch from Cheman Kingdom. If it's fake, you get a full refund. It's two thousand two hundred coins, and I can't offer this one on credit." Li Banfeng was tempted, but the price was breathtaking.

Qin Xiaopang impatiently said, "What's the point of buying this? You might as well buy a clock!" Shopkeeper Feng just smiled and said nothing.

Qin Xiaopang urged him to hurry. Li Banfeng quickly scanned the shelves, looking for anything else useful, when his gaze suddenly landed on a strange object. It was a wooden cabinet, an antique-looking mahogany cabinet, roughly the size of two nightstands stacked on top of each other. Above it were three metal horn-shaped speakers. To be precise, they weren't just decorative horn flowers; they were three actual horns. One was very large, its opening wider than a dinner plate, while the other two were much smaller, their openings about the size of a fist.

"Is that a gramophone?" Li Banfeng's eyes lit up. He had seen such a device on television, a machine that played music from records.

"Gramophone?" Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. "This isn't called a gramophone."

The name didn't matter. If there was a gramophone, it proved there was electricity. With electricity, he could charge his phone. Once his phone was charged, this world would be perfect! Even if there was no cell signal, at least he wouldn't need to buy a watch.

But Shopkeeper Feng's answer greatly disappointed Li Banfeng: "We don't have anything that uses electricity here. This is a phonograph, and it doesn't use electricity." Li Banfeng couldn't understand. If it didn't use electricity, how could it produce sound? Only today did he learn that the most primitive phonographs had nothing to do with electricity or magnetism, only with two things: a stylus and a record.

Shopkeeper Feng placed a shellac record on the phonograph's platter. He then took a crank handle from a drawer beneath the phonograph, inserted it, and vigorously turned it a dozen times. This was to wind the phonograph. Once fully wound, he flicked a lever, and the record began to spin rapidly on the platter. Shopkeeper Feng lowered the stylus onto the record, and a song, accompanied by faint static, drifted from the horn.

"Floating clouds disperse,The bright moon shines on those who come,A perfect reunion,Drunk tonight~""Full Moon and Beautiful Flowers."

The principle of the old phonograph was very simple. Records had grooves of varying depths. These grooves were etched onto the record by the stylus vibrating in response to the sound of the song. Now, when the stylus moved along these grooves, the friction produced sound, reproducing the original song. This was the acoustic principle of the phonograph.

The sound quality was far from good, even rather coarse. But Li Banfeng loved the tune and found it quite pleasant to listen to. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. In less than three minutes, the stylus reached the end of the record, the spring wound down, and the record stopped.

Qin Xiaopang looked disdainful: "What's so good about this? You have to crank that handle for ages just to listen to one song. Too much trouble."

"You can also listen to music without winding it," Shopkeeper Feng said. He took a new record and placed it on the platter. He brought an iron cup and added two cups of water into the smaller horn next to the large one. Shopkeeper Feng lit a match and opened a small door on the lower right side of the phonograph. Inside the door was a hidden compartment, and within it, a fixed iron box containing half a box of grease, with a wick standing upright in the center. He lit the wick, and a flicker of flame filled the entire compartment. Li Banfeng didn't know what kind of oil it was, but he could feel the intense heat from a distance.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! The small horn to the right of the large one rhythmically sprayed out water mist. The left small horn was responsible for adding water, and the right small horn for expelling steam.

What kind of operation was this? Could it be that... The record began to spin on the phonograph. A steam-powered phonograph? How sophisticated was this machinery? Li Banfeng's eyes widened. His education of the past decade or so was once again being challenged.

After about a minute, the record's rotation speed gradually stabilized, and Shopkeeper Feng placed the stylus on the record.

"Butterflies fly away,My heart is no longer here,Who will come during this desolate long night,To wipe away the tears streaming down my cheeks~~""Wild Grass and Idle Flowers Meet Spring."

What a beautiful tune.